GBANADA 376 GRAND ARMY bishop, who was formerly primate of Hungary, is the chief of many buildings in connection with the cathedral. Gran was the cradle of Christianity in Hun- gary; here St. Stephen, the first king, was born in 979, and baptized and crowned in 1000. In the next two cen- turies it became the greatest commercial town in the kingdom. Pop. about 20,000. GRANADA, an ancient kingdom, and one of the old provinces in southern Spain, bounded by Andalusia, Murcia, and the Mediterranean. It is now di'ided into the provinces of Granada, Almeria, and Malaga, the united areas of which amount to 11,063 square miles. The sur- face of Granada is mountainous and pic- turesque in a high degree. The mountain ranges, the chief of which are Sierra Nevada, the Sierra de Ronda, and the Alpuj arras, run parallel with the coast. The principal rivers are the Almanzora, Almeria, Genii, Guadalhorce, and Gua- diaro. The province is on the whole fruit- ful and highly cultivated. The moun- tains are rich in silver, copper, lead, and iron. Granada was part of the Roman province of Boetica; but after the Arab invasion it formed an independent Moor- ish kingdom. It was the last possession of the Moors in Spain, and was con- quered by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. GRANADA, city and capital of the above province, was the ancient metropo- lis of the Moors in Spain, and stands on the Genii, 120 miles from Seville. The town exhibits the form of a half -moon, its streets rising above each other, with a number of turrets and gilded cupolas, the whole crowned by the Alhambra, or palace of the ancient Moorish kings. It is built on two adjacent hills, and divided into four quarters. The Darro river runs between the two hills and traverses the town, after which it falls into the larger stream of the Genii, which flows outside the walls. The principal build- ines are the cathedral, the archbishop's palace, the mansion occupied by the cap- tain-general of the province, the univer- sity; but the grand ornament of Granada is the Alhambra, the wonder of Arabian architecture. Its remains sufficiently evince its original splendor. It com- mands _ a beautiful prospect ; but a still finer is afforded by another Moorish palace, called the "Generalife," built on the opposite hill, and the retreat of the court during the heats of summer. Pop. about 78,000. GRANADA (gra-na'da), a depart- ment and city of Nicaragua. The depart- ment, lying between the Pacific and Lakes Nicaragua and Managua has an area of nearly 2,600 square miles; is mostly a level savannah, but contains the vol- cano of Masaya and the Mombacho peak (4,500 feet). The city is on the N. W. side of Lake Nicaragua, and is connected with Managua by rail. Founded in 1522, it was formerly the chief town of the republic, but has suffered greatly from the civil wars. It is still an important trading center. Pop. about 17,100. GRAN CHACO (gran cha'ko), an ex- tensive central tract of South America, extending from the S. tropic to 29° S. lat., and bounded on the E. by the Paraguay and Parana, and on the W. by the Ar- gentine provinces of Santiago del Estero and Salta; area, about 180,000 square miles. The portion S. of the Pilcomayo belongs to Argentina, and the remaining third to Paraguay; but the possession of the upper section of the Pilcomayo is dis- puted by Bolivia. The country rises grad- ually from the Parana toward the N. W. as far as 25° 40' S. lat., when it dips to the valley of the San Francisco — part of a great depression extending through Bolivia nearly to the frontier of Peru, and subject to annual inundations. The Chaco is watered principally by two long, narrow, and tortuous streams, the Ber- mejo and the Pilcomayo, flowing S. E. in courses generally parallel, and about 180 miles distant from each other. The bed of the Bermejo oscillates backward and forward, and in 1870-1872 the river opened up a new channel (known as the Teuco) for nearly 200 miles. The most N. part of the Chaco is an extremely arid zone, but the banks of the upper Pilco- mayo are fertile and its sands auriferous, while S. of the Bermejo the primeval forest extends into Salta. Much of the region is of modern alluvial formation, and exceedingly fertile. Since 1537, when the first explorer. Captain Juan de Ayolas, marched with 250 men into the wilderness from which none ever re- turned, numerous expeditions have been sent out from the surrounding countries; but the savage tribes, swamps, lagoons, and floods defeated all early attempts to open up the country. In 1884 garrisons were established along the Bermejo, and since 1885 permanent settlements have been made. GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC, a patriotic organization in the United States composed of the National veterans of the Civil War. It was organized in Decatur, 111., April 6, 1866, by Dr. B. F. Stephenson, of Springfield, formerly sur- geon of the 14th Illinois Infantry. The establishment of Post 1 in Decatur was soon followed by Post 2 in Springfield, and in a few months other posts sprang
